My heart saddens when somebody forwarded me the open verdict made by a certain State Coroner Victor Yeo Khee Eng.

A TOP civil servant whose car hit a Victoria School student along Marine Parade Road in October last year was yesterday cleared of criminal negligence in the fatal accident.

State Coroner Victor Yeo came round to this view following testimony by several witnesses at the inquiry into the death of Secondary 4 student Wrixon Chew Teck Cheng, 16, who died six days after the accident.

The driver of the car was Ms Chin Li Fen, 48, an Assistant Commissioner of the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (Iras)

…

Coroner Yeo, returning an open verdict, said evidence suggested that Wrixon could have failed to keep a proper lookout for oncoming vehicles.”
(Source: AsiaOne)

I could not believe what I read.

Is this the same court that ruled in favour of the wife of an americian millionaire who was killed in a car accident when he deliberately violated the traffic laws?

I did some googling and found the previous case “US MILLIONAIRE IN CAR ACCIDENT AT SCOTTS ROAD, Driver ordered to pay $2m“.

THE jogger may have run right across the yellow traffic box junction outside Goodwood Park Hotel along Scotts Road and disregarded the pedestrian crossings.

Still, the Singapore driver who hit and killed him had to bear 45 per cent of the blame for the accident, the court found.

…

The traffic lights were in Madam To’s favour. She was driving past the junction of Scotts Road/Stevens Road and Draycott Drive, when he ran across the yellow box junction in front of her car.
(Source: SGForums)

It turned out that the jogger was Mr Henry Adolphus Lassiter, 48, an American self-made millionaire who had a thriving technology company and assets worth nearly $40 million at the time of his death.

Does it mean that if you are a rich millionaire, you can violate traffic laws, run across a yellow traffic box junction, get killed… yet the driver (with traffic light in her favour) had to bear 45% of the blame?

But on the other hand, when you are an average 16 yrs old student, you are 100% at blame for getting yourself killed because you have failed to keep a proper lookout for oncoming vehicles?

I don’t get the logic.

Or perhaps it’s not about you at all. It seems to me that the verdict could have depends on who you are contesting against.

My heart saddens…such is the state of X@#@#……..

How am I going to teach Talia Ann about right and wrong in this country? Should I tell her that when you see a rich man crossing the road, you MUST stop the car. When you see a commoner, just speed on, knock him down as long as the light is in your favour?

Certainly not.

As a sailor, I know that the rule of sea always state that the vessels with the higher mobility gave way to the lesser or vessel restricted in their ability to maneuver.

As a NPCC cadet, I learnt that the same rules apply. Cars should watch out and give way to motorcycles and bicycles. ALL motorised vehicles MUST watch out and give way to pedestrians.

With such court rulings, it’s not surprising that so many cyclists and pedestrians get killed by reckless drivers each year.

Something must change regarding the double standards in such verdicts.

This reminded me of what Edmund Burke said, “Evil Prevails When Good Men Do Nothing“.

We need CHANGE.

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